RE: Spad XIII
I enjoy flying -- but the number of days of the year (and hours of the day) I can build far outnumber flying days (and hours)!
I also acknowledge the joys of kit-bashing -- that twisted glee of NOT following the instructions, of NOT doing things the way I'm supposed to. I've got one of the Flair Puppeteers sitting on the shelf. I knew almost before I opened the box that I wouldn't be building it "as is." In fact, I'd already decided that the fuselage as is looks more like the 1 1/2 Strutter than a Pup so I blew up technical drawings of the Strutter to match the cowl size on the Flair kit. It's clear that I'll need to be scratch building my own elevator and rudder. And I'll have to add a couple more bays to the wings. And I'll have to alter the shape of the fuse in several important ways. And move the UC a bit. And I won't be using any of the hardware provided. And the cowls I make myself from locally available pots are better than the cheap, tinny Flair cowls. And....
I'm now starting to wonder what the point is of starting with the kit at all. I fear my kit-bashing days are numbered!